Door operating mechanism



May 18, 1943 F. LICHTFELDT 2,319,612

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 5H j v IJNVENTOR. & Fa a [mar/"402"- ATTORNEY.

F. LICHTFELDT noon OPERATING MECHANISM v May 18 1943 Filed April 5, 19394 Sheets-Sheet 2 v flaw Dav/ 5407 INVENTOR.

M y 18 1943. F. L|H+FELDT 2,319,612

DOOR'OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 19:59 4 Sheets-Sheet sIINVENTOR. flaw [MA/772C107 E ZZW;

. TTORNEY.

May 18, 1943 lfoyn F. LICHTFELDT DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5,1939 A! 1 4! FLT TOVPPIF LATCH 7'0 SPAN/VG 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 18, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs 2,319,612 noonOPERATING MECHANISM Fred'Lichtfeldt, Wauwatosa, Wis.

Application April 5, 1939, Serial No. 266,042

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanism andis particularly directed to mechanism for operating garage doors.

This invention is an improvement over and a continuation in part of myPatent No. 2,156,950 of May 2, 1939, for Door operating mechanism.

In my above noted patent the invention was designedv to provide a garagedoor operating mechanism which was so made that the driver could openthe door by hand when he was leaving and by this operation store asufficient amount of energy in the mechanism and could thereafter drivehis car from the garage and trip the mechanism by means of a pull cordor similar device allowing the mechanism to close the doors, and couldsubsequently drive his-car into contact with a portion of the mechanismand thereby cause the doors to open automatically and allow him to drivehis car into the garage without descending from the car.

This invention has for its objects to provide improved operatingmechanism for controlling the automatic actuation of the power ordriving mechanism for operating the doors, and objects of this inventionare to provide a construction whereby a spring or other member,preferably in the shape of a bumper, maybe positioned and carried on theouter side of a garage door and may be engaged by the bumper or frontwheel or other portion of the automobile, and when so engaged willoperate trip mechanism to release the automatic mechanism for openingthe doors.

A further object of this invention is to provide releasing means forreleasing the automatic mechanism, which releasing means may be adjustedso as to require only a slight force to cause it to operate, or whichmay be adjusted to require a considerable force to cause it to operate,the device being so arranged that when only a slight force is required,the extra energy required for causing tripping maybe supplied by aspring, the energy being stored in the spring previously by the openingof the garage door.

Further objects are to provide a construction in which the device may bequickly changed over from one that requires only a light pressure on thereleasing bumper on the outer side of the door or one which requires aheavy pressure on the releasing :bumper.

Further objects are to provide door operating mechanism in which thereleasing means for the door operating mechanism may consist of abumper-like member or relatively heavy spring mounted on the outer sideof the door, in which this spring is so made that it has a. relativelyheavy arched body portion and is carried by lighter spring-like endmembers so that as the body portion is bent into a more nearly straightshape, the light spring end portions will yield outwardly and therebyprevent excessive strains being imposed on any of the springstructure,the

Figure l is a fragmentary inside face viewlooking at the doors of agarage with the device in place and with the doors closed. v

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail of [the lower portion of the structureshown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side view, partly in section, of the structure shown inFigure 2. w j

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan View, partly in section, showing a part of the dooroperating mechanism, showing in full lines the position occupied whenthe doors are closed and in dotted lines the positionwhen the doors areopen.

Figure 6 isa sectionaldetailshowing the lock. Figure 7 is a fragmentaryview witha portion of the lock removed and with parts in section.

' Figure 8 is a detail viewshowing amodified form of construction. j

Figure 9 is a detail view, partly in section, showing the upper latch,such view corresponding to a section on the line 5-9 of Figure 1.

Figure 10 is a detail, partly in section, showing the trip means forreleasing the door operating mechanism for door opening movement, suchView corresponding to a section on the line lB-l i) f ure l.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the door operatingmechanismcomprises a pair of tracks I located in the upper portion ofthegarage, as shown most clearly in Figure 5, upon which a main carriage 2travels-forwardly and.

backwardly and is operated by power means which may take the form ofweights, allas described in greater detail in my above noted patent. r

This main carriage is connected to the door, if a single door is used,by means of a link,-or if two doors are employed, by means of a pair oflinks 3 as shown in Figure 5, so that when the carriage travelsforwardly, the doors 4 are'moved to the dotted line position shown i-nFigure5 and when the carriage travels rearwardly, the doors occupy thefull line position. 'The main carriage 2- is normally locked in its rearposition, as shown in Figure 5, and is released by means of suitablemechanism which is not shown in detail, but which is shown anddescribedin my copending applicationl This releasing mechanism includesa front'trip memberfi, see Figure 1,providedwith a laterally projectingpin 6 which latter is adapted to be'struck by one-arm of a bellcrank-lever, see

portion of one of the doors The mechanism is so arranged that when thebell crank lever I is rocked in a clockwise direction as viewed inFigure 10, it moves the trip member 6, which forms a portion of themember 5, outwardly and thus releases the main carriage, allowing it tomove for: wardly, as viewed in Figure 5, and open the doors.

This bell crank lever or tripping means I is operated by means of adownwardly extending rod or wire 8. The trippin member -E, see Figure 1,is supported from the tracks. The upper portion of one of the doors 4also carries the upper latch 9, see Figures 1 and 9. The latch 9consists of a lever which is urged into latching position by means ofthe spring I6 and which is operated by the downwardly extending rod orwire I I. The latch 9 normally engages a slanting cam like catch I2carried by the upper stationary door casing I3. The construction is suchthat when the door is closed, the latch snaps into place and locks thedoor in closed position. The door which carries the latch if the doubledoor is employed, is provided with an outer strip I 4, see Figure 5, inaccordance with the usual practice.

The lower portion of the door may be provided with a lower latch asindicated at I5 in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In the form of the inventionshown particularly in Figures 1, 2 and 3 a main operating lever I 5 isprovided and is pivotally mounted on a bracket II secured to one of thedoors 4. This lever is spring urged towards clockwise rotation by meansof a spring I8 secured adjacent the lower portion of the door andthespring is connected to the lever by means of a rod or wire I9 pivotedadjacent the upper portion of the lever I6 and having a hook like lowerend that is adaptedto slidably enter the upper end of the springundercertai-n conditions, as will hereinafter appear. The lever I6 isconnected by means of a rod or wire with the wire 8 leading to the tripmechanism, see Figure 1, and also is connected to the upper rod or wireI I, as shown most clearly in Figure 7. It is to be noted that the wire20 is connected to a lower loop formed i-nthe wire 8 and that the end ofthe wire 8- is provided with a hook like portion v8' which hooks into aring or eyelet H'iormed at the lower end of the rod II.

Further it is to be noted from Figure 7 that a rod or wire 21 is alsoprovided with a hook like upper portion 2| which hooks into the eyelet II of the rod II'. The rod 2I extends to the lock mechanism as willhereinafter appear.

Returning to Figure 3, it will also be seen that the main operatinglever I6 is connected by means of a rod or wire 22 with the lower latchI5. The wire 22 is provided with a looped lower'end 22'- which engagesthe looped portion of a wire or rod 23 secured to the lower latch I5, asshown most clearly in Figures 2 and 3;

It will be seen from the description thus far given that the spring I8,see Figures 2 and 3, tends to rock the operating lever It in a clockwisedirection and tends to release the upper and lowerlatch. However, thespring I8 is normally prevented from exerting its force on the rod I9and consequently on the lever I6 because the spring is held inanextended position by means of the rod or wire 24 whose lower end isprovided with a hook like portion 24' that is adapted to slide into thespring under certain conditions. The upper end of the wire 24 is securedto the outer end of the lever 25 which is pivoted to the door, seeparticularly- Figures 1 and 2. It is obvious, therefore, that as long asthe wire 24 is held in its upper position by means of the lever 25, thatthe operating lever it cannot be operated by means of the spring I8.

The lever 25 is latched in its upper position, as shown in full lines inFigure 2, by means of the latching spring arm 2%, see Figures 2 and 3.This latching spring arm 26 has a shouldered portion 2% which is adaptedto fit beneath the lever 25 as shown in Figure 3 and to thus hold thelever in elevated position. it has a slanting portion 26" which actslike a cam when the lever 25 is pulled upwardly and thus allows thelever to ride beneath the latching spring arm 2% and to be locked in itselevated position, as shown in full lines in Figure 2. The lever 25 ispulled upwardly by means of a flexible member, such as a cord or chain21 see Figures 1 and 2', whose upper end is attached to a portion of thecasing of the door so that as the door is rocked outwardly to openposition, the lever 25 is pulled up into its upper position as shown infull lines in Figure 2.

The operating lever 56 is free from any pull due to the spring I8, seeFigure 3, and is yieldingly held under these conditions in its full lineposition shown in Figure 3 by means of the pull on the wire or rod 20,which pull is obtained from the spring It see Figure 9, acting on theupper latch 9 and transmitting its pull through such latch and throughthe wire 5 I to the wire 20.

It is obvious that under the conditions of the parts hereinabovedescribed that if the lever 25 is now released by moving the latchingspring arm 26 out of latching engagement with the lever 25, that thelever will be drawn downwardly by the spring I8 and the spring I3 willexert its force on the operating member E6 to rock it into the dottedline position in Figure 3. This release or unlatching action is obtainedby means of a plunger 28, see Figure 3, which slidably passes throughthe door 4 and which is provided with an inner end which may be headedor may be provided with nuts, as shown in Figure 3. The plunger or rod28 also includes, in addition to the enlarged end or nuts, an operatingmember 29 which, in the form shown in Figure 3, is clamped between thenuts on the end of the rod or plunger 28. This member '23 is in the formof an angle bracket or operating member which is adapted, in one mode ofoperation hereinafter described, to engage a portion of the lever It torotate the lever when the plunger 28 is pressed inwardly of the door.

The plunger is positioned beneath an overhanging portion Eil of thelatching spring arm 25 so that when the plunger 2%! is pressed inwardly,this latch is moved to releasing position and releases the lever 25,allowing the lever to move downwardly and thus allowing the spring I8 torock the operating lever it; and withdraw the upper and lower latches I5.

At the same time that the above described operation takes place, it willbe seen that the downward motion of the wire 26, see Figures 1, 7 and10, pulls the wire 8 downwardly and thus rocks the tripper 'I, seeFigures 1 and 10, to tripping position. This tripper l, as previouslydescribed, releases the tripping mechanism 5-4, see Figure 1, and allowsthe main carriage 2 to move forwardly as viewed in Figure 5 to thusautomatically open the door, as described in detail in my above notedpatent.

The means for operating the plunger 23 may comprise the bowed,relatively heavy spring 3I which is carried at opposite ends by lightersprings 32 secured to the front of the door. When the bumper of theautomobile strikes the spring 36 or a pad 33 carried thereon, the bowedspring 3| is straightened and consequently the lighter springs 32 at theends are flexed so that no unusual or undesirable strain is imposed onany of these parts. Further, the construction insures a straight linemotion for the plunger 28.

In order to store energy in the spring l8,.it is necessary to pull thelever 25, see Figure 2, from its dotted line lower position to its fullline upper position. This is accomplished by means of the cord orflexible member. 27 secured to a stationary portion of the doorassembly. It is obvious that when the door is opened, the lever 25 ispulled up to its full line position and the latch arm 23 latches beneaththe lever 25 and holds it in this elevated position.

It is to be noted that when the operating lever It has rocked to thedotted line position, Figure 3,

that it is temporarily latched in this position by means of the springlatch 36, see Figures 2, 3 and 4. This spring latch has a bevelled upperface 34 over which the end of the lever l6 rides, see

Figure 4, and has an abrupt shoulder which locks shown in Figure 1, sothat when the door is U openedoutwardlv, the latch is tripped and thelever I6 is allowed to rock back to its full line position shown inFigure 3 by the upward pull tofore described. However, if it is desiredto adjust the mechanism so that a very heavy pressure is required sothat a person cannot operate the mechanism by merely manually pressingagainst the spring 3i, all that is necessary is to pull the springlatching arm 33 to the right, as viewed in Figure 2, so that it occupiesthedotted line position shown in Figure 2 and hooks behind the shoulder33 formed on the underside of the lever 25.

When in this position the reciprocation of the plunger 23 cannot releasethe latch 26 as it is out of line with such bolt or with the headed endthereof. On the other hand, assume the parts are in the position shownin Figure 3 with, however, the latch 33 moved to the dotted lineposition shown in Figure 2, it is obvious that a considerable pressurehas to be exerted on the spring 3| so as to force the plunger 23inwardly a considerable distance and cause the member 29, which actslike a cam member, to ride along the under face of the lever i3 and rockit into its dotted line position as shown in Figure 3, thereby releasingthe upper and lower door latches and also operating the tripper for theautomatic door opening mechanism. In order to hold the. upper and lowerlatches 9 and it out of engagement with the catches until the door hasswung to full open position, the spring latch 33 now comes into play,see Figures 2, 3 and 4, and temporarily locks the lever IS in its dottedline position as shown in Figure 3. However, 'afterthe door has swungfully open, the cord 35 trips the latch 34 and allows the lever Hi tomove to its full line position shown in Figure 3. v

A look may be provided and is indicated generally by the referencecharacter 31 in Figure 6 which may be opened from the inside bymeans ofthe knob 38 in the usual manner or which may be opened from the outsideby means of a key inserted into the portion 39. The lock is so made thatthe key will turn a fiat shaft it!v to withdraw the bolt of the lock.

This flat shaft 40 is also shown in section in Figure '7 and it will beseen that this flat shaft passes through a disk M which at diametricallyopposite points is provided with apertures through one of which the wire2| passes and through the other of which a wire 42 passes. The wire 42is connected to a wire 43 by means of the slip joint or interlockingloops, as shown in Figure 7, and the wire 43 extends downwardlyto thebottom latch 15 so that when the key is turned in the lock, the. wires42 and 2| are pulled inwardly towards the lock and ithusrelease theupper and lower catches.

In the form of the invention described,.eit1f1er the lever It may beoperated directly from the plunger 28, see Figure 3, or else the springactuated trip mechanism may be operated, depending onwhether or not thearm 26, see Figure 2, is in the position shown in such figure in fulllines or in the dotted line position lockedback of the notch 33 of thelever 25. When it islocked' back of the notch 36 of the lever 25, it isnecessaryfor a considerable pressure to be exerted on the spring 3i soas to force the plunger 28 inwardly a considerable distance and directlyactuate the operating lever It. On thefother hand, if the spring releaseconstruction is employed, the spring arm 26 is released from the notch:33 and allowed to occupy itsfiull line, position as shown in Figure 2.Under theseconditions a very light force is all that isneeded to be ppied to the spring 3 l see Figure 3, in order to trip the mechanism. I

The invention may take a still further form as shown in Figure 8. Inthis form of the invention the lever I6 is omitted and the wire 20, in:stead-of extending directly to the lever 16, now extends to the lever 25corresponding-to; the lever 25, the wire 20' corresponding to the wire20. Also the wire 22, see Figure 3, does not'extend to the lever [6 asin Figure 3, but instead extends to the lever 25' and is indicated bythe reference character 22' in Figure 8. The locking spring arm 26 .isemployed as heretofore described to temporarily lock the lever 23 in itsupper position, which is the position shown in Figure 8. The wire 24' ofFigure 8 corresponds to the wire 24 of Figure 3 and extends to thespring not shown in Figure Sbut identical with the spring! of Figure 3.

In this form of the invention the spring actuated mechanism alone isused and the operating lever 16 is not employed. Therefore, this latterform of mechanism has only one mode of'functioning and may be tripped bya light I pressure exerted on the spring 3|, not shown in Figure 8.

for tripping the automatic door opening mechanism by means of a movablemember mounted and carried on the outer side of the door so that thismovable member will actuate the mechanism to unlatch the door and alsoto trip the power operated door opening mechanism.

Further, it will be seen that in one form of the invention a lightpressure alone is needed and in the other form'of the invention either alight or a heavy pressure is needed on the externally mounted operatingmember so that the device may be set for either mode of operation,depending upon the choice of the user.

This invention provides means for automatical-1y locking and unlockingthe door at either the top or bottom or at both the top andthe bottom,and for simultaneously tripping the power mechanism for opening thedoors. Further, it provides means for storing power in the actuatingspring l8 for the latch releasing and trip operating mechanism when thedoor is opened so that the. spring may be later released and this energyutilized to withdraw the upper and lower latches and operate the tripmechanism.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto-be understood that such description is intended as illustrativerather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and isto be interpreted as claimed.

1. In a door operating mechanism, a door, latching means for lockingsaid door in closed position, an external operating member mounted onthe outer side of said door and comprising a relatively heavy leafspring held in spaced relation to said door by a pair of lighterstraight, outwardly extending springs secured to the ends of said leafspring and to said door, said relatively heavy leaf spring and saidlighter outwardly extending springs being located on the outside of saiddoor, whereby said leaf spring isv movable towards said door, and tripmeans controlling said latching means and released when said externaloperating means is moved towards said door.

2. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking saiddoor in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said lockingmeans, biasing means for said releasing means, cable means operated bythe opening movement of said door for setting said biasing means forbiasing said releasing means towards door unlocking movement, andexternal operating means carried by said door for controlling saidreleasing means, said external operating means including a spring bumperand a plunger operated thereby.

3. In a. door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for lockingsaid door in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said lockingmeans, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for said door,means connected to said casing, and operatively connected to. saidbiasing means for setting said biasing means to bias said releasingmeans towards door unlocking motion when said door is opened, and anexternally mounted means carried by said door and controlling theoperation of said releasing means, said externally mounted meansincluding a spring bumper and a plunger operated thereby.

4. In a. door. operating mechanism, a door, looking means for lockingsaid door in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said lockingmeans, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for' said door,means connected to said casing and operatively connected to said biasingmeans for setting said biasing means to bias. said releasing meanstowards door unlockin motion when said door isopened, a. plungerslidable through said door for releasing said biasing means, and anelongated externally mounted bumper connected to said plunger andmovable towards said door to actuate said plunger.

5. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking saiddoor in closed po sition, releasing means for unlocking said lockingmeans, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for said door,means connected to said casing and operatively connected to said biasingmeans for setting said biasing means to bias said releasing meanstowards door unlocking motion when said door is opened, a plungerslidable through said door, a leaf spring having an intermediate portionconnected to said plunger and positioned externally of said door, and apair of lighter springs connected to the ends of said leaf spring andconnected to said door on the outside of said door and extendingoutwardly to avoid friction when said leaf spring is pressed and tolessen the stresses imposed on said leaf spring when said leaf spring isdeflected, whereby said leaf spring may be moved towards said door toimpart substantially straight line motion to said plunger.

6. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking saiddoor in closed position, a pivoted lever carried on the inner side ofsaid door for releasing said locking means, latching means controllingthe operation of said lever, a plunger slidable through said door forreleasing said latching means, and bumper means mounted externally ofsaid door for actuating said plunger, said bumper means including arelatively heavy leaf spring and a pair of lighter springs secured tothe ends of the leaf spring and extending backwardly therefrom andsecured to the outside of said door.

'7. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for lockingsaid door in closed position, a pivoted lever carried on the inner sideof said door for releasing said locking means, latching meanscontrolling the operation of said lever, a plunger slidable through saiddoor for releasing said latching means, and bumper means mountedexternally of said door for actuating said plunger, said lever beingmounted in the line of travel of said plunger and said latchingmeansbeing manually movable to inoperative position, whereby saidmechanism may be set for either the actuation of said latching means bysaid plunger or for the direct actuation of said lever by said plunger.

8. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking saiddoor in closed position, a pivotally mounted lever carried on the innerside of said door for unlocking said locking means, a latch for lockingsaid lever in lock-released position, means for tripping said latch whensaid door is opened, and operating means located externally of said doorfor rocking said lever.

9. In a door operating mechanism, a door, latch means for said door, alever normally latching said latch means against releasing motion, abumper fastened on the outside of said door having a heavy leaf springwith lighter springs on each end connected to said leaf spring and tothe door, and a plunger connected to said bumper and having a straightline motion and operatively associated with said lever and latch meansfor releasing said latch means.

FRED LICHTFELDT.

